Southeast Asia’s longest volcanic cave discovered in Vietnam

A group of Vietnamese and Japanese scientists have announced the discovery of the first volcanic cave system in Vietnam, one part of which is considered the longest such feature in Southeast Asia, according to the General Department of Geology and Minerals of Vietnam. The discovery was made in Krong No District in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong by experts from the general department and the Japan Caving Association (JCA) after seven years of research, Nguyen Van Thuan, head of the department, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper in an interview published on Wednesday. In 2007, scientists from the general department detected some volcanic caves in the district and JCA experts have since joined their counterparts in further explorations, Thuan said. The system, which is a unique natural heritage of the volcanic eruption process that took place millions of years ago, is the first to have been discovered in Vietnam. It includes 12 volcanic caves, three of which have been measured in detail, Thuan said. One of the three is 1,055 meters long and the Japanese scientists said it is the longest volcanic cave in Southeast Asia, he said, adding that some parts of this cave cover thousands of square meters. Compared with limestone caves, like those in Phong Nha-Ke Bang – a world natural heritage site in north-central Vietnam – volcanic caves are rarer and different in structure, the Vietnamese expert said. Researchers have yet to conclude whether people have ever lived in the volcanic caves, as they have…